Training Through Prayer

I may complete the post below some time, but for now, the sermon today inspired me to write about another subject.

Let me begin with an analogy. What is it that makes a warrior successful and feared? Strength, dexterity, reflexes, and wisdom are all necessary components. But these will not be honed to perfection without the one constant necessicity of every pursuit: training. A warrior will submit to discipline. He will discuss with his trainers and with himself, receiving their instruction and exchanging information and ideas. But above all, he will practice motions, strength-building exercises, and practical scenarios again, and again, and again. He will devote himself to his labor, however tedious. And then his enemies will run (and he will catch them, for he has run more diligently than they) and his friends will doff their caps or bow in respect, because he has been steadfast in the application of his discipline.

We are not all physical warriors, nor is it necessary to be so. But we Christians are all spiritual warriors. It is not an army to which one simply volunteers. And the battles will be fought. Nonetheless, though everyone is a soldier, not everyone is really ready to fight. God will protect His elect from falling away (to continue the physical analogy, that would be like either dying or being captured), but many can hardly strike one successful blow offensively.

Physical warfare requires physical training. It so follows that spiritual warfare requires spiritual training. One aspect--very important and also very neglected--of this training is prayer. Prayer is the discussion, or rather the communion, with our Commander, God. It is where we bring before him our needs--areas in our spiritual warfare where our skill is woefully lacking, or combat zones beyond our control to deal with. God will reward this kind of communion with training and discipline, via the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit.

The Scriptures and the Holy Spirit are the tools by which we are strengthened, but prayer has a strengthening aspect too, and it is also the means by which we derive the most benefit from those tools. Searching the Scriptures without prayer is like walking into a training field with an instructor, and thinking one knows how to use the equipment. The result will probably be wrongful application that may take considerable un-learning to rectify.

Pray without ceasing, and God will mold you into a fearsome warrior from whom the servants of Satan flee.

~Connor